To most people, the Wombles are known as the pointy-nosed, furry creatures with a fondness for rubbish, found within the pages of a series of beloved children's books, set in Wimbledon Common.
But real-life 'Wombles' can be found right here in Liverpool.
Inspired by the fictional creatures, created by Elisabeth Beresford, the Penny Lane Wombles are a litter-picking group which aims to clean up the streets around Mossley Hill - and their hard work has inspired people in other wards to take to their local streets with bin bags and gardening gloves.
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Now comprising around 50 members, the group began in March with just one woman, founder Kath Maguire, who was herself inspired by another 'Wombles' group in Wirral.
She said: "I'm normally a runner, but I suffered an injury and I was walking a lot more, spending more time looking at the floor and noticing how much litter there was around. It was driving me mad.
"I went out quite late in the evening litter-picking around Penny Lane. I felt quite a sense of achiement and it made a big difference almost immediately. I started posting about it on Facebook, and other people started wanting to do it.
"Before and after pictures of the streets looking horrible and then nice grabbed people's attention, and it grew from there. The more people saw us doing it, the more people heard about us. People would stop in the street and chat to us and find out what we were doing.
"We've probably got about 50 active people in the group now, all ages from little kids to retired people."
Members of the Penny Lane Wombles are asked to carry out regular litter-picks in their own time, thus creative a mass collective of street cleaners spanning Allerton Road, Penny Lane, the area surrounding Greenbank Hals, Sefton Park, and Calderstones.
Another Wombles group, based in Cressington, has already started up, and talks for another group in Speke are underway.
Kath, 38, said: "Bottles, cans, e-cigarettes are a constant problem. We find all sorts of underwear. We're constantly finding pairs of knickers, boxer shorts and socks. It's a bit of a running joke in the group. It's like there's some sort of issue in Liverpool with people walking around without pants on.
"We see all sorts of stuff. Nappies, used sanitary products - things you wouldn't think people would throw on the floor, they do."
She added: "We want to make people change their habits. We don't want to be picking up other people's litter forever. People don't want to live surrounded by mess.
"We'd love more people to get involved, and hopefully other areas to do the same. We're not going to do the council's job for them, but if we can help, we can. If there's an explosion of mess all over the floor, instead of reporting it to the council and having them come down five days later - by which time it's blown all over the place - if you can sort it yourself, you might as well.
"It's been good for everybody getting to know each other and getting better connected to the area. It creates a sense of pride in where you live."
Calderstones Park, one of the green spaces looked after by the Wombles, is one of 20 parks set to be protected by the Fields in Trust charity which are working with Liverpool Council to eventually protect 100 parks and green paces in Liverpool from development or sale.
CEO of Field in Trust Helen Griffiths said: “We are delighted to be working with Liverpool City Council to ensure all 100 of Liverpool parks will be protected and available for the whole community, for future generations.
“It might surprise people to know that although they’re probably the most universal of our public services, parks unlike schools, or libraries, are not a statutory local government service, so they are not seen as vital or as something to be protected.
“As a charity, we really need continuing support from the communities and businesses in Liverpool to help turn this vision into a reality."
You can find out more about the charity here
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